Agency: Russia to continue supplying arms to Syria

Arms exporter: Russia will continue "to carry out our obligations on contracts for the delivery of military hardware" to Syria.

Syrian tank 521.
(photo credit:ABDALGHNE KAROOF)

MOSCOW - Russia is still delivering weapons to Syria and will continue to do so despite the Middle East country's civil war, the head of the state arms exporter said on Wednesday.

Russia is Syria's main arms supplier and has long been an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"We are continuing to carry out our obligations on contracts for the delivery of military hardware," Rosoboronexport director Anatoly Isaikin told a news conference.

He said the deliveries included anti-missile air defense systems but nothing that could be used as attack weapons such as planes or helicopters. The exports did not contravene international law or UN Security Council resolutions, he said.

Moscow has blocked three UN Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Assad. It says his departure must not be a precondition for a negotiated settlement of the almost two-year-old conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people.